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Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting: Witnesses describe harrowing scene

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Three officers stopped a gunman in under a minute, but not before three festivalgoers were dead and Gilroy was left searching for answers.

The 41st annual Gilroy Garlic Festival was closing out its final evening at Christmas Hill Park on Sunday, July 28, 2019, when gunfire erupted around 5:40 p.m. near a stage and a children’s play area. By the time it was over, three attendees were dead, at least 15 more were injured, and the shooter himself lay dead after a rapid confrontation with police. Mercury News video captured witnesses at the scene and at the reunification center describing the chaos in real time.

• Gunfire broke out around 5:40 p.m. Sunday after the shooter crossed a creek and cut through a perimeter fence, bypassing entrance security and metal detectors entirely.
• Three Gilroy police officers engaged and fatally shot the gunman within about a minute of the first shots.
• The three victims killed were identified as 6-year-old Stephen Romero, 13-year-old Keyla Salazar, and 25-year-old Trevor Irvin.

Shooter Gained Unauthorized Building Access

Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee told reporters the gunman never passed through the festival’s checkpoints at all. Instead, according to Smithee, he crossed a creek bordering Christmas Hill Park and cut through a perimeter fence, sidestepping the entrance security and metal detectors that thousands of other attendees walked through that day. Once inside, the shooter — identified as 19-year-old Santino William Legan — opened fire randomly into the crowd with an assault-style rifle, aiming near a stage and a children’s play area where families were gathered on the festival’s final night.

Scenes Of Panic On The Ground

In the Mercury News footage, witnesses described dozens of rapid shots that many initially mistook for fireworks before the screaming started and people began scattering. Thirteen-year-old Brynn Ota-Mathews was among those who recounted the panic, describing families diving under tables and into tents as belongings were left behind across the grounds. The randomness of the shooting — sprayed into a crowd that included young children near the play area — is what witnesses kept returning to in their accounts.

Dozens of rapid shots, mistaken at first for fireworks, then the screaming — and three officers who ended it in under a minute.

The Response And The Victims

Three Gilroy police officers were already on the grounds and engaged Legan within roughly a minute of the shooting starting, fatally shooting him before he could move deeper into the crowd. Even so, the toll was severe: Stephen Romero, 6; Keyla Salazar, 13; and Trevor Irvin, 25, were killed, and at least 15 others were injured. Overnight into Monday, July 29, authorities set up a reunification center at Gavilan College to help families locate loved ones who had scattered during the chaos.

An Investigation Still Open

As Monday began, investigators were still working through witness reports suggesting a second person may have assisted Legan, though that had not been confirmed. Police continued combing the festival grounds and the surrounding area for evidence while the reunification effort at Gavilan College worked through the night to account for everyone who had been at Christmas Hill Park that evening.